On Translation Of Xi Jinping's Report To The 19^thCPC National Congress From The Perspective Of The Manipulation Theory

With the integration of global economy and the rise of China's international status,the world's attention to China keeps rising,and so does people's desire to know more about China.At the same time,China feels it urgent to spread its philosophy of development and unique culture to the Western countries so that the world can not only“hear”the voice from China,but also“embrace”the voice from China.To such an end,the English translation and dissemination of political texts have played a pivotal role and become an important window for the international community to understand China.Xi Jinping's Report to the 19^th CPC National Congress is one of the most important political documents in China in recent years.It includes a summary of the work of the Communist Party of China and the central government from 2013 to 2017 and a blueprint for the future,covering such aspects as politics,economy,culture and society,thus it is comprehensive,authoritative,scientific and inspiring.Both in theory and in practice,its referential value goes beyond China's national borders as it shares“Chinese vision”for and“Chinese approaches”to political governance and social development with the rest of the world.Therefore,studying the translation and dissemination of Xi Jinping's Report to the 19^th CPC National Congress will have great theoretical and practical significance.This study selects the original text of the Report and its official English translation as the research objects,and takes the representative theory of the“Cultural School”of Translation Studies—the Manipulative Theory as the research framework,focusing on how the non-textual factors influence the choice,process and result of political text translation,and try to summarize some principles and methods for translating political documents.The official translation of Xi Jinping's Report to the 19^th CPC National Congress was completed by the Central Compilation&Translation Bureau.Different from the past,the translation of the Report and its proofreading work have two new features.First,Laos,Vietnam and Portuguese versions were added on the basis of the original English,French,Spanish,Russian,Japanese,German and Arabic versions.These ten versions were published by Foreign Language Press and were publicly released to overseas readers in February 2018,which attracted much attention from the foreign media as well as people around the world.Among the versions,the English one was else best-received.Second,foreign experts were invited to participate in the translation and improvement of various versions of the Report for the first time.To ensure a more accurate of understanding of China's political discourse and a more acceptable way of telling Chinese stories and spreading Chinese voice to the world,studying the translation of the Report is more value.The Manipulation Theory is the core idea of Bassnett's view on“cultural translation”.She believes that translation is a“rewriting”behavior that is influenced and manipulated by ideology,poetics and patronage.In view of the special political status and influence of Xi Jinping's Report to the 19^th CPC National Congress,its translation is also a means of safeguarding China's national interests and promoting China's right of political speech,and is thus influenced by the country's national interests.Therefore,the author proposes that the translation of political documents is a kind of“rewriting”behavior based on national interests,which enriches the Manipulation Theory and enhances its interpretation force for political text translation.Through the study of the English translation of Xi Jinping's Report to the 19^thh CPC National Congress,the following findings were obtained:First of all,the translation of China's political literature is,in the final analysis,to publicize the socialist ideological system,philosophy of development,democracy and legal system and to popularize Chinese culture,thus it is bound to be influenced and manipulated by the socialist ideology;secondly,the manipulation of poetics is effected at the level of text.As the stylistic features and rhetorical approaches of Chinese and Western languages are different,appropriate rewriting is conducive for the foreign audiences to understand and accept the political and cultural ideas that are specific to China.Thirdly,the relevant state organs or departments of China,as invisible patronages,have provided financial support for the translation of Xi Jinping's Report to the 19^th CPC National Congress and manipulated all aspects of its translation indirectly,and have thus influenced the way the translation is presented.Finally,ensuring the national interest is the starting point and the foothold of the translation of political texts.Any translation is carried out on the basis of the national interests and in service of China's national image.Therefore,the factor of national interests has also exerted the influence of manipulation on the translation of Xi Jinping's Report to the 19^th CPC National Congress.In addition,this thesis attempts to summarize the principles governing the translation of political literature.On the one hand,the political translation should,first and foremost,safeguard China's national interests.On the other hand,it should uphold socialism with Chinese characteristics and adhere to the leadership of the Chinese central government.This thesis also comes up with some translation methods for political translation,such as literal translation,interpretation,and their combination by analyzing translation examples of similar political documents.